Polish rod holder



' Oct. 14, -1930.

J. N. MARTIN 1,778,266

POLISH ROD HOLDER Filed Sept. 13, 1927 UNITED STATES Patented Oct. 14, 1930 PATENT OFFICE JOHN N. MART IN, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS POLISH R01) HOLDER Application filed September 13, 1927. Serial No. 219,336.

the sucker rods by which thevalve and polish rod are united, or to slipping of the hanger connections on the polish rod, or for other reasons, itis necessary to space the hanger connections on the polish rod periodically. In orderto effect such spacing in an upward direction, the polish rod is raised from its bottom of stroke position by means of the engine and walking beam, andwhile being held in such position, some means, which rests on the stuffing box, is applied to the polish rod to hold it in that position independent of the hanger connections between the polish rod and beam. The hanger end of the beam is then lowered to its bottom of stroke position, thus throwing slack in the hanger connections which areloosened on the polish rod and fastened at a lower position. The holding means is then released, allowing the rods to drop the short distance to take up the slack in the hanger connections to the beam which then holds the weight of the rods ready to-begin pumping. Y

It'must be understood that to raise the polish rod above the bottom of stroke position by use of beam and engine and to hold 'it approximately in a given position, requires 7 the continuous attention of the operator at the engine controls to maintain a balance of ower; otherwise full pumping motion will or the weight ofthe string of rods will pull the beam down to the bottom of stroke position; Further it must be understood that the engine controls are located several feet away from the polish rod, and it is impossible for a man to reach both at thesame time.

Therefore in spacing wells upward hereto fore the holding means has been in theform of a' clamp, the application of which to the polish rod required the attention of two-men,

one at the engine controls, and the other at the clamp. The presence of two men is not always available when the emergency for spacing occurs.

It is the object of this invention to provide a one man polish rod holder for spacing rods upward and for other purposes.

It is therefore obvious that this holder must be self-engaging upon the polish rod when, by means of the engine and beam, the operator raises the rod string above the bottom of stroke position. Also, itmust be releasable from the polish rod without the necessity of again raising the rods, and since, after spacing there will be some slack in the hanger connections, the weight of the rods will be upon the holder and it must therefore be releasable with this load upon it. This necessity of releasing the hold of the wedges upon the polish rod while the strain or load of rods is upon the wedges, arises in this device. All other oil field tools employing wedges or slips release by raising the held object, because no means of releasing is necessary.

The invention consists of a pair of blocks or jaws, connected at one of their ends in such way as to be movable toward and from one another, the jaws being provided with adjacent tapering recesses which when the jaws are brought together forma substantially continuous opening through the jaws, from top to bottom, in which opening are arranged wedges having exterior tapering surfaces to match the tapering recesses in the jaws and having recesses adapted to fit the polish rod and made with smooth parallel rod-engaging faces so as not to mar the surface of the polish rod; the wedges, like the jaws, being halved so that the may be applied to the polish rod in a transverse direction; the jaws being provided with locking and releasing means by which they may be used to hold the wedges about the rod in such way that the rod may be supported by the jaws resting upon the stufling box, as I will proceed now to explain more fully, and finally claim.

[In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a perspective View, showing the holder of this invention applied to a portion of a polish rod. Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a m0dification in the means for arresting undue descent of the wedges upon opening'of the re lease mechanism. Fig. is a perspective View of another such modification. V

In the illustrativeinstance or my invention, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, there are two similar jaws 1 and 2, having'a knuckle hinge joint.

3, by which they are connected; although other means may be used for connecting the aws. Opposite faces of the aws have the unbroken uniform semicircular tapered "re' cessesel, extending from top to bottom, which when the jaws are closed upon one another form a tapered hole extending through the jaws from top to bottom. The topandlbot smooth surface of the polish rod, and adapted toengage a maximum adjacent surface of the polish rod frictionally and without liability of marring it. The exterior or outer surfaces- ,of the wedges are tapered complementally with the recesses t'andofuniform unbroken contour. '3 I m These wedge sections maybe heldbetween the jaws without liability totoo great .de-

scent in their recesses u on o enin or the 7 release mechanism by-anyof a varietyof means, such as the top flanges 8,?LSSl1OWI1 in Figs. .1 2 andi3 or the bottom of the recesses l 01" the jaws may be provided with a shoulder 9,.as shown in Fig. 4; or, as shown in 5,

the wedges may be provided with laterally ex tending pins 10, to cooperate with-the. upper surfaces of the j aws. a

v In orderto preventthe'loss of'thewedges, they may be connected to the'jaws means of chainsll, as shown in Fig. 1', or other'suit-jv able means.

The jaws arelockedtogetherbyuany suit; I able quick-acting locking and releasing means, such as a releasescrew -12,- extending from a head which is arrangedtoturnin recess 14 in one ofthejaws and. held therein by a pivot through a notch 16in the other j aw a'nd. propin. 15, the screw extending yided with, a wing or lever nut l7, so t-hat upon SUI fiQIBDtI lOOSGIIlDg of thenut the'screw may be readilyg-moved out of the notch. 16 and rotated on its pivot 15 clear; of the v, N w i W m y b Op d and removed from the'pohsh rod along with ,tlieir wedge members.

The jaws may be made otconsiderable rod is lifted, the'holder thickness, as indicated in Fig. 3, or may be of less thickness and reinforced by longitudinally extending ribs 18, as shown in Fig. 1.

The holder may be released from the polish rod while the load is still upon said rod, by simply unscrewing the release screw 12, there-- by allowing the jaws to be moved apart sufficiently to release the grip of the wedges upon the polish rod.

"When the holder is applied and the polish will immediately engage the polish rod as it begins the downward movement and hold it fast.

Itwill be understood that when it becomes necessaryto respa'ceth-e rods in a pumping Well in an upward direction, or thehanger connections in. a downward direction, it is requisite to stop the pumping movement, raise the l polish rodthe required distance,

clamp it up in that position, disconnect the hanger connections. and, reconnect themiatf a lower position on the polishrod, This generally requires the continuous attention of oneoperatornntil the clamp isfirm upon the polish rod and able when resting upon the stufiing box to hold the weigit or the rods. L

The clamp is "then, rel'ease'ch-zdropping the 'loadof the string of rods on the hanger connection to the beam and allthe parts inreadiness to. begin pumping again. By-my in vention as the.operatorhandles his engineer motor controls 'toraise the polish rod to] the required position, the holderwill engage and hold the polish: rod inthatgposition, where .as with the common type of clamp, it.is nee essary to have a second man to screw up the Clamp tight on therodtohold the'weight.

It is to be noted also that my holder may be released without the necessity of: raising or taking off the load of the 'rods. .gThe holder-will have its center offgravityapproximately ;a the center lineof the. polish rod, which, latter it will grip so that it will set evenly upon the stufilngboxcof thel well, without. tendency .Li Th W s} l b ef r s t p r W i h etl p l s rod; i di e y upon down movement of the polish rodl'and yet not grip ior holdupon; the initial up movement of the, polish rod. V l

the holder is that the polish rod retains its smooth fin-ish and consequently does not tear ir id y Wear o t e insin theswfir i s he j Any suitable auxili ari'es -,maybe used to assist or, force the engagement of the; wedges -,Variations in th'e'details of construction may b mad Wi h pr n ipleo t e. 1

ventio'n' and-,the; claim'following.

ycla'imzn .11 .f F A polishi rod holder, for oil well and similar pumps, comprisinga pair 'of-similar hold .ie ia ihi ge y c ine'e edat e amel and The value of the non-marring feature provided at their other end with a jaw-lock ing and releasing means consisting of a screw having a head pivotally mounted in one of the jaws and adapted to be swung into and out of engagement with a notch in the other jaw and provided with a nut engaging the thread of the screw and bearing upon the outer surface of said notched jaw and capable of quickly closing and releasing the jaws m by turning the nut and swinging the screw on its pivoted head, the opposite faces of the jaws having semicircular tapered recesses of uniform unbroken contour extending from top to bottom of the jaws, and pol- 15 ish rod engaging means consisting of wedges semicircular in cross-section and having the plain parallel semicircular smooth surfaces on the inside corresponding with the diameter and the smooth surface of the polish'rod 29 to be held and released at pleasure and tapered and unbroken outside surfaces to match the surfaces of the recesses in the aws, the locking and releasing means being operable to release the rod from the holder while the weight of the string of rods is upon the holder and without the necessity of raising the polish rod up through the holder, so that one man may perform, without the aid of an I assistant, all of the operations to space upward the string of rods in an ordinary pumping well of standard rig type without counterbalance.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of September, A. D.

JOHN N. MARTIN. 

